Whether you become a ghost, reincarnated or have a eternal soul, what purpose does afterlife serve? People argue incessantly about the purpose of life without forming a consensus, yet afterlife hardly receives the same treatment. As far as I can gather the purpose of afterlife is to live on forever. Is that all there is to it?

October 2nd, 2011, 08:52 PM

Bunbury

Well, I for one plan to become a ghost and haunt all those buggers who done me wrong in real life.

October 2nd, 2011, 09:04 PM

Schrodingersothercat

Just another contrivence, like religion, to rule by fear, the human population. Mark L

October 5th, 2011, 12:56 PM

zinjanthropos

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunbury

Well, I for one plan to become a ghost and haunt all those buggers who done me wrong in real life.

Will you be taking some clothes with you? I only ask because I've never heard of a naked ghost. If clothes somehow end up on the other side then they must have something in common with your soul or whatever it is that's considered afterlife that one takes with them.

I think revenge is a great purpose for afterlife. There should be more of that.

October 9th, 2011, 05:44 AM

mentor

I want to become a demon and punish all men who pretend to be good to me.

October 9th, 2011, 09:05 AM

zinjanthropos

If the purpose of afterlife includes the part where you live on forever then does that make death more meaningful than life?

October 14th, 2011, 04:33 PM

JoeRand

Which answer do you want? There are whole libraries in every civilized culture dedicated to the purpose of both questions. However, in general, the purpose of the afterlife is to be eternally happy and all-knowing. The Christian view means becoming one with God, or seeing God, which means instantly knowing everything and having all true desire completely fulfilled beyond all limitation. The purpose belongs to God, in the sense that God made it His purpose to create companions/children/friends, etc. It is the ultimate experience, in the true Thomistic sense, and thus cannot be perfectly described as a goal with limited results. It is thus largely a mystery, part of the reason being, for lack of a better term, that it is supposed to be a surprise. The eastern Buddhist view means gaining knowledge of the ultimate abstraction, which first takes the form of the realization of the ultimate illusory nature of absolutely every thing and idea, and then entering into a state of being beyond the whole knowable illusion of limitation and contraries. In short, Nirvana. Hindu Nirvana has elements of both, in that they classify the state beyond limitation as oneness with the ultimate Being.

October 15th, 2011, 01:53 AM

Lynx_Fox

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeRand

Which answer do you want? There are whole libraries in every civilized culture dedicated to the purpose of both questions. However, in general, the purpose of the afterlife is to be eternally happy and all-knowing..

Or eternal damnation.

But I guess it's served to provoke people, in a carrot and stick sort of way, into a false sense of morals over past couple thousand years.

October 15th, 2011, 03:23 AM

JoeRand

To be fair, my friend, Augustine would probably just call that "death." I believe zinjanthropos wanted to know about different views on the purpose of eternal life (the best possible outcome), but maybe I misunderstood.

October 15th, 2011, 01:05 PM

zinjanthropos

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeRand

To be fair, my friend, Augustine would probably just call that "death." I believe zinjanthropos wanted to know about different views on the purpose of eternal life (the best possible outcome), but maybe I misunderstood.

I think that the best possible outcome would include eternal damnation. I'm having a bit of trouble knowing that I will be happy in an eternal life as long as the bad guys are eternally damned, suffering, or not happy.

October 16th, 2011, 06:42 PM

Japith

The soul is a complete fabrication.

October 16th, 2011, 11:31 PM

Binz

Living forever is a total misery!!! but dying is not the solution either... because i believe in re birth!!
so if we want happiness this life cycle should end completely!!!!!!

October 27th, 2011, 07:07 AM

Strange

Isn't that a bit like asking what the purpose of unicorns (invisible and pink, or otherwise) is?